1. Spotlight on Juncker to oppose new GM crops

The majority of European governments re-affirmed their opposition to genetically-modified (GM) crops today, although the final decision now rests with the European Commission.[1] Friends of the Earth Europe is calling on Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, to reject the new GM crops destined for Europe’s countryside.

Governments voted against a proposal to authorise two new strains of GM maize, the first new GM crops since 1998. The two maize types, technically called BT11 and 1507, are owned by Syngenta and Dow-Pioneer, and are designed to be grown using Bayer’s weed-killer glufosinate, widely accepted as potentially harmful to humans.[2] There are also major questions about the safety of these GM crops, especially whether they unintentionally kill butterflies and moths.[3]

Mute Schimpf, food campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe said: “Whether he likes it or not, the buck now stops at Jean-Claude Juncker. He can put himself on the side of the majority of countries, citizens and farmers who do not want genetically-modified crops, or he can back the mega-corporations behind the industrialisation of our countryside.”

The European Commission also needs to decide on the fate of the only genetically-modified crop grown in Europe, Monsanto’s MON810, which produces toxins that kill maize pests. MON810 is already banned in 17 EU countries, and grown on less than 1% of agricultural land, mainly in Spain and Portugal.[4]

Mute Schimpf continued: “There is no political or public support for genetically-modified crops; farmers don’t even want them. It’s time for President Juncker to pull the plug on this failed technology once and for all, and to focus on how we make farming resilient to climate change, save family farms and stop the destruction of nature. It's time to close our countryside to genetically-modified crops and move on."

This week, Friends of the Earth Europe will launch a campaign to combat the increasing corporate monopoly over the food chain.[5]

2. Governments and citizens reject GMOs, Commission must follow

Today, national government representatives failed to support the approval of three genetically modified (GM) maize crops for cultivation in Europe: two new ones and the only GM crop currently grown in the EU.

While no qualified majority was reached,[1, 2] the number of rejections shows that GMO opposition clearly outweighs support. It was the second vote by national governments on the European Commission’s proposals to approve the three GM crops. The first vote, held in January 2017, had also failed to deliver a qualified majority. Therefore, it is now up to the Commission to take the final decision.

Greenpeace EU food policy director Franziska Achterberg said, “When he was elected, Commission President Juncker promised more democratic decision-making. This vote leaves no doubt that approving these GM crops would break that promise. A majority of governments, parliamentarians and Europeans oppose them, and two thirds of European countries ban GMO cultivation on their lands. Instead of backing risky products peddled by multinational corporations, the Commission should support ecological farming and the solutions it provides for rural areas, farmers and the environment.”

Background

In 2014, Juncker said he “would not want the Commission to be able to take a decision when a majority of Member States has not encouraged it to do so”.[3]

In 2016, his Commission proposed authorising the cultivation of DuPont Pioneer’s 1507 maize and Syngenta’s Bt11 maize, and to renew the licence for Monsanto’s maize MON810, the only GM crop currently grown in the EU.

If approved, the three authorisations would only be valid in 9 out of 28 EU countries, as well as in three regions (England in the UK, Flanders and the Brussels region in Belgium). The other EU countries and the remaining regions in the UK and Belgium have used the EU’s new opt-out mechanism to prevent GM crops from being grown in their territories.

The European Parliament has repeatedly clashed with the European Commission over its policy on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In December 2015, it called for a moratorium on all GMO import authorisations until new decision-making rules are in place. It has opposed the authorisation of several GMOs for import to the EU and rejected the proposed authorisations of GM maize 1507, GM maize Bt11 and GM maize MON810 for cultivation in the EU.

GM crops have no place in sustainable farming. They come with unacceptable risks created by the genetic engineering process and the traits they are engineered to express. At the same time, they have failed to deliver on the promises made by their producers. To protect the environment and our health, the European Union should ban GMOs and promote ecological farming methods instead of following the example of the US and the handful of other countries where GM crops are grown.

Notes at the URL above—

3. Member States still reject GMO cultivation

Today, for the second time this year a majority of Member States voted against[1] the authorizations of two new GM crops and the licence renewal of the only GM crop currently approved for cultivation in the EU.[2] The organic farming movement calls on the European Commission to withdraw these proposals.

Eduardo Cuoco, IFOAM EU Director, said: “Today's vote shows once again that a majority of national governments does not support GMO cultivation in the EU. With the Member States and the European Parliament[3] not backing up the GMO authorization and with many European citizens expressing their skepticism towards GMOs, it is evident that the Commission's proposal should be instantly withdrawn.”

Eric Gall, IFOAM EU Deputy Director and Policy Manager, said: “The strong growth of the organic market is a clear indication of the direction European citizens want agriculture to go. European agriculture benefits from its GMO-free status and it does not need GM crops, the cultivation of which will only create problems and additional costs for conventional and organic farmers. Authorizing products already banned in 17 Member States makes little sense and will certainly not make the Commission more relevant to European citizens.”

In case the European Commission decides to ignore today's vote, put the 'no opinion' excuse on the table again and go ahead with the authorization it'll be yet another sign that European procedures for GMO authorization need to be reformed. In that respect, IFOAM EU and other NGOs ask for a requirement to reach the qualified majority[4] for approval of a product or process falling under the EU’s general food law regulation, otherwise such a proposal should be withdrawn.[5]

The European Commission's final decision will have an impact on the organic and conventional GMO-free sectors. GMO cultivation heightens the risk of contamination of organic crops and increases costs for those farmers who want their crops to remain non-GMO. GMOs are not compatible with the principles of organic farming and are banned in organic production. They also increase the use of chemical herbicides which are forbidden in organic farming.